This disclosure is related to methods and systems for authenticating and monitoring home health interactions between a provider of a home health service and a patient.
The market for delivery of home health services in the United States is estimated to reach more than $136.1 billion by the year 2020. Challenges in the delivery of this type of services include tracking and monitoring of a geographically dispersed workforce that cannot be directly supervised. Significant error and fraud in the recording of home health interactions has been reported, with one example being a case that the US Department of Justice has brought against home health providers in Texas for more than $374 million (March 2012) with allegations of defrauding Medicare and Medicaid. Patient health outcomes can also be put at risk if a home health provider fails to be present at a scheduled time, and no current system exists to alert third parties when a patient's health care provider does not arrive. As a result, a patient could be left alone, or could fail to receive a service that has been scheduled and/or paid for.